But winning a few miles from his Stuart, Va., hometown in front of family
and friends was sweet for Wood, to say the least.

"In terms of career advancement, the effect was minimal," said Wood. "But
personally, you couldn't have picked a better race track or a more
prestigious one. My grandpa raced there and Martinsville's got a lot of
history."

The victory was the most recent of the then 21-year-old Wood's two series
wins. Since rejoining the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on a fulltime basis
in July, Wood has rolled up five top-10 finishes -- the best a third place,
near victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

Returning to Martinsville -- and becoming the series' third double winner at
the .526-mile short track -- would suit Wood just fine.

"The level of competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is just as
high as in the other two national series so you don't go to any track with
high expectations of winning," said Wood. "But I've won at Martinsville so I
don't have anything to prove."

The 2007 season has been a difficult one for Wood, who sat out several
months due to illness before joining the series at Kentucky Speedway where
he overcame a spin-out to finish sixth. He's working on a string of three
top-10s including a 10th at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 6.

Kroger 200 Defender Sprague Will Make 400th Start

Thirteen -- as in starts -- was Jack Sprague's (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota)
lucky number when the three-time champion finally won at Martinsville
Speedway in October 2006.

Sprague will reach another racing milestone when he starts this week's race.
The Kroger 200 is the 400th NASCAR national series race for the 43-year-old
veteran.

In 399 starts in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Trucks,
Sprague has won 29 times with winnings of $9,451,208.

Todd Bodine (No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota) has the most national series
starts by a current fulltime competitor: 633.

It All Started At Martinsville For Raybestos Rookie Of The Year Leader Allen

One visit to Martinsville Speedway -- a traditional starting point for
drivers new to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series -- was enough to tab
Nashville's Willie Allen (No. 13 ThorSport Chevrolet) as a star of the
future.

Allen, driving a second Morgan-Dollar Motorsports Chevrolet, debuted with a
sixth-place finish in the 2005 Kroger 200.

"Just being there and being able to run with the big stars of NASCAR was an
honor," said Allen, who finished ahead of series champions Todd Bodine, Ron
Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner.

Allen returns to Martinsville as the leader in the Raybestos Rookie of the
Year standings, a spot he took for the first time earlier this month at
Talladega Superspeedway.

"It's been a tough struggle all year. We had a lot of good runs that were
ruined by mechanical failure," said Allen, who finished sixth at Talladega
to match his career-best performance.